Explosive actuated valve



Aug. 22, 1961 w. w WILLIAMS 2,997,051

EXPLOSIVE .ACTUATED VALVE Filed Nov. 20, 1958 INVENTOR.

WILLIAM WARREN WILLIAMS BY M A T TORI/E Y Patented Aug. 22, 19612,997,051 EXPL'OSIVE ACTUATED VALVE William Warren Williams, Smyrna,Ga., assignor, by mesne assignments, to Pneumo Dynamics Corporation,Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of Delaware Filed Nov. 20, 1958, Ser. No.775,281

3 Claims. (Cl. 13'7-68) This invention relates generally to valves andmore particularly to normally closed explosive operated valves.

It is an important object of this invention to provide a new andimproved valve which provides complete separation between the inlet andthe outlet without depending upon the use of resilient seals or the likewhen the valve is in its normally closed position and which is operatedby an explosive charge to connect the inlet and outlet by rupturing aseparating partition therebetween.

It is another important object of this invention to provide an explosiveoperated valve including a plunger having a frangible section which isfractured by the explosive charge only after suflicient explosivepressure is built up to insure complete operation of this valve.

It is still another object of this invention to provide a new andimproved explosive operated valve suitable for use in connection withthe storage of fluids at high pressure for long periods of time.

It is another important object of this invention to provide a new andimproved explosive operated valve having a diaphragm separating theinlet and outlet, which diaphragm is punched by a hollow punch whichinsures that fragments therefrom do not pass into the valve outlet.

Further objects and advantages will appear from the followingdescription and drawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation in longitudinal section showing the valvein its normal closed position; and

FIGURE 2 is a view similar to FIGURE 1 showing the valve at thecompletion of the operation at which time the inlet and outlet areconnected.

A single operation valve, according to this invention, is usually usedin connection with the storage of fluids under pressure wherein thestorage is for an indefinite period of time and it is essential toprevent any leakage. Such single operation valves require positiveoperation and find particular application in installations whereinabsolute reliability and zero leakage are requirements.

The valve includes a body formed with a cylindrical inlet chamber 11 andan outlet chamber 12. The inlet chamber 11 is machined in the body 10 bya tool inserted through a threaded opening 13 which is thereafterhermetically closed by a plug 14 and an O-ring seal 16. The body 10 isalso formed with a tapped inlet 17 open to the inlet chamber 11 throughwhich the vessel or system containing fluid under pressure is connectedby any suitable fitting. Similarly, a threaded outlet 20 connects to theoutlet chamber 1-2 to provide for a connection to the system to besupplied with the fluid under pressure when the valve is operated.

The outlet chamber 12 connects througha reduced diameter throat 18 to aconical section 19 and a cylindrical bore 21. A cylindrical plunger orpunch 22 is located within the bore 21 and is formed with a hollowforward end of uniform diameter 23 which projects through the throat 18to the outlet chamber 12 where its end is provided with a sharp cuttingor shearing edge 24. The punch 22 is also formed with a piston portion26 which closely fits in the cylindrical bore 21 and a conical portion27 corresponding to" the conical section 19 of the bore 21 and adaptedto engage and seat itself within that section when the valve isoperated. Normally, the plunger conical section 27 is axially spacedfrom the bore conical section 19 as clearly shown in FIGURE 1. The leftend of the bore 21 is enlarged and threaded as at 50, in which isscrewed the threaded shank 51 of a head or mounting portion 28. AnO-ring type seal 31 assures a fluid tight joint between the mountingportion 28 and the bore 21. Adjacent to the bottom of the threadedportion 50 of the bore 21, the plunger 22 is provided wtih an externalannular groove 29 constituting a frangible portion, the purpose of whichwill be explained hereinafter. Thus, it will be understood that normallythe plunger 22 is an integral part of the threaded shank 51 of the heador mounting portion 28.

Normally, the inlet chamber 21 is separated from the outlet chamber 12by a partition 32 made an integral part of the body 10 and located inalignment with but slightly spaced from the shearing edge 24 of thepunch 22. To insure proper shearing of this partition by the punch asthe punch moves to the right as hereinafter explained, the partition isformed with an annular-V-shaped groove 33 the inner edge of which is ofa diameter substantially equal to that of the punch shearing edge 24 andlocated co-axially therewith. To insure proper thickness of thepartition and accurate alignment of the groove 23 with the shearing edge24- of the plunger, this partition is preferably produced by a coiningtype operation wherein a mandrel is positioned against the left side ofthe partition and a coining die is pressed against the right sidethereof to a position accurately spaced from the mandrel to produce ashearing section beneath the groove of a predetermined thickness.

The mounting portion 28 of the punch 22 is formed with a bore 34 whichextends through the frangible section 29 which bore, together with theannular groove 29, determines the thickness of the frangible portion.The outer end of the bore 34 is threaded to receive a squib 36containing an explosive charge 37. A static O-ring 38 prevents leakagebetween the bore 34 and the squib 36. The squib 36 is provided withignition wires '39 through which the igniting current passes to set offthe explosive charge 57 when the valve is to be operated.

When it is desired to open the valve, the explosive charge 37 is ignitedcausing a rapid increase of gas pressure within the bore '34 whichproduces a reaction force on the end of the wall 41 of the bore 34urging the piston portion 26 of the punch 22 to the right and causes therupture of the frangible section 29. In practice, care is exercised tomaintain the thickness of this frangible portion to a predetermineddimension, thereby assuring its rupture by the explosion of a givensquib 36. As soon as the frangible section 29 is ruptured, the area ofthe entire left side of the piston portion 26 is exposed to the pressureof the explosive gases, thus resulting in an effective area equal to thearea of the bore 21. The action of the explosive gases on the pistonportion 26 drives the piston to the right and causes the shearing edge24 to impact and shear the partition 32 out in a single slug 43 definedwithin the annular groove 33. This slug is carried by the punch 22 pastthe inlet chamber 11 into the threaded bore 13 where it is trappedbetween the end of the plunger 22 and the end of the plug 14. Inpractice, the distance between the end of the plunger 22 and the end ofthe plug 14 is such that the slug 43, while trapped therebetween, doesnot limit the forward movement of the plunger. To prevent leakage ofexplosive gases past the piston portion 26 during its forward travel, aseal 42 is provided on the piston 26 which engages the wall of the bore21.

Forward movement of the plunger is limited by the engagement of itsconical portion 27 driven into the conical portion 19 of the bore 121.These two conical portions 19 and 27 are formed with locking angles sothat their engagement provides an absolute seal which prevents leakageof the fluid from the outlet chamber 12 past the piston portion 26 andalso positively locks the punch 22 into if: its forward position andprevents pressure from the inlet and outlet chambers 11 and 12 acting onthe front end of the punch to drive it toward the left, thus assuringthat the plunger 22 will remain in the open position shown in FIGURE 2in which position the slug 43 is held between the cutting edge of theplunger and the end of the plug 14 and is prevented from entering theinlet passage of the valve.

The hollow portion 23 of the punch 22 is formed with a first pluralityof radial ports 46 which are positioned in the inlet chamber 11 when thevalve is operated and a second plurality of ports 47 positioned withinthe outlet chamber 12 when the valve is operated. Therefore, fluidcommunication is provided between the inlet chamber 11 and the outletchamber 12 through the ports 46, the central passage 44, and the ports47.

Those skilled in the art will recognize that prior to the operation ofthe valve, leakage cannot take place from the inlet chamber 11 and thatpositive sealing of the outlet chamber 12 is also provided. Therefore,the system cannot be contaminated by leakage either between the chambersor from the environment into the chambers. Also, by utilizing thefrangible section 29 to insure a proper buildup of pressure in the bore34 before the plunger starts to move, an impact is always developed whenthe shearing edge 24 engages the partition 32. Therefore, both kineticenergy of the plunger movement and the force developed by the explosivegases insures that the partition 32 will be sheared by the punch 22. Thevarious proportions are arranged so that the shearing edge 24 is spacedfrom the partition 32 prior to the operation of the valve so that thiskinetic energy will be available for shearing and also so that the forceof the exploded gases will initially all be applied to the frangiblesection 29 to insure its rupture.

Although a preferred embodiment of this invention is illustrated, itwill be realized that various modifications of the structural detailsmay be made without departing from the mode of operation and the essenceof the invention. Therefore, except insofar as they are claimed in theappended claims, structural details may be varied widely withoutmodifying the mode of operation. Accordingly, the appended claims andnot the aforesaid detailed description are determinative of the scope ofthe invention.

I claim:

1. A valve comprising a valve body having an inlet chamber and an outletchamber, a partition wall in said body between said inlet and outletchambers and sealing said chambers one from the other, a valve elementin said body disposed in alignment with said wall, said valve elementincluding a portion formed with an open ended bore terminating in anannular shearing punch disposed adjacent the partition wall, means toimpel the valve element towards the partition wall to drive the shearingpunch into the wall to pierce the wall with the portion of the valveelement including the bore extending to opposite sides of the wall andinto each of the inlet and outlet chambers, and ports in said valveelement providing communication from said outlet and inlet chambers tosaid bore for flow from said inlet passage through the bore to saidoutlet passage.

2. A valve comprising a valve body having an inlet chamber and an outletchamber, a partition Wall in said body between said inlet and outletchambers and sealing said chambers one from the other, a valve elementin said body disposed in alignment with said wall, a mounting portionfor said valve element engaged with the valve body and securing thevalve element in the valve body, a frangible section integrally formedwith the valve element and the mounting portion and securing the valveelement to the mounting portion, said valve element including a portionformed with an open ended bore terminating in an annular shearing punchdisposed adjacent the partition wall, means to impel the valve elementtowards the partition wall and fracturing the frangible section to drivethe shearing punch into the wall to pierce the wall with the portion ofthe valve element including the bore extending to opposite sides of thewall and into each of the inlet and outlet chambers, and ports in saidvalve element providing communication from said inlet and said outletchambers to said bore for flow from said inlet passage through the boreto said outlet passage.

3. A valve comprising a valve body having an inlet chamber and an outletchamber, a partition wall in said body between said inlet and outletchambers and sealing said chambers one from the other, a valve elementin said body disposed in alignment with said wall, a mounting portionfor the valve element engaged with the valve body and mounting the valveelement in said body, a frangible section integrally formed with thevalve element and the mounting portion and securing the valve element tothe mounting portion, said mounting portion including an explosionchamber adapted to receive an explosive device to be mounted therein,said valve element including a piston portion forming one Wall of theexplosion chamber, said valve element including a portion formed with anopen ended bore terminating in an annular shearing punch disposedadjacent the partition wall, an explosive device in the explosionchamber for impelling the valve element towards the partition andfracturing the frangible section to drive the shearing punch into thewall to pierce the wall with the portion of the valve element includingthe bore extending to opposite sides of the wall and into each of theinlet and outlet chambers, and ports in said valve element providingcommunication from said inlet and said outlet chambers to said bore forflow from said inlet passage through the bore to said outlet passage.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 81,027Stehbins Aug. 11, 1868 1,482,211 Bailie Jan. 29, 1924 2,515,068 YoungJuly 11, 1950 2,557,448 Mathisen June 19, 1951 2,638,167 Jones May 12,1953 2,815,698 Burrows Dec. 10, 1957 2,815,882 Connell Dec. 10, 1957

